Kevin Everett moved his arms and legs.

[Rilchiam]

So says Sports Illustrated: (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/09/11/bills.ap/index.html?cnn=yes)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Kevin Everett voluntarily moved his arms and legs on Tuesday when partially awakened, prompting a neurosurgeon to say the Buffalo Bills' tight end would walk again -- contrary to the grim prognosis given a day before.

"Based on our experience, the fact that he's moving so well, so early after such a catastrophic injury means he will walk again," said Dr. Barth Green, chairman of the department of neurological surgery at the University of Miami school of medicine.

"It's totally spectacular, totally unexpected," Green told The Associated Press by telephone from Miami.

Green said he's been consulting with doctors in Buffalo since Everett sustained a life-threatening spinal cord injury Sunday after ducking his head while tackling the Denver Broncos' Domenik Hixon during the second-half kickoff of the Bills' season opener.

Thank heavens. That was a sickening injury.

[Cyberhwk]

Fantastic! Football is an exciting game, but at the end of the day it's still just a game. It's a tragedy when someone suffers such a horrible injury merely playing a game. This is fantastic to hear.

[Hippy Hollow]

Yeah. Kinda ruined the first week of the season. It's still a dangerous game, no doubt. I don't know how the team, and the league can continue to play after something like that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that they not play on, but it would make me unable to continue out there, having seen a guy almost die/narrowly avoid permanent paralysis.

Then again, what's up with the doctor? Wouldn't it have been better for him to wait a few days before saying anything to anybody (except perhaps Kevin Everett and his family)? I thought it was a little extreme to make such definitive statements to the public. How about "He's in critical condition, and we're hoping he pulls through - we won't know much for several days?"

[NinetyWt]

A brutal sport, for sure. Many have gone before him and not done as well. The field at my old high school is named for a boy who lost his life playing there. I ws at Ole Miss when Chucky Mullins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chucky_Mullins)was crippled. I think I know the reason why men play the game; still I'm so thankfull that neither of my boys played it for very long.

I hope that Mr. Everett has a full recovery. :)

[Least Original User Name Ever]

You know, the more I watch football, the more I'm convinced that it either needs to be outlawed or have severe restrictions on how big a player can get.

Yeah, this was a freak injury, and I'm hoping that his prognosis is accurate, but there are too many giant people running incredibly fast out there.

[Jackmannii]

So, will he be suiting up and playing this Sunday?

[Dinsdale]

Not sure how much the fact that I couldn't give a shit about football plays into my reaction, but when I skimmed a blurb about this in today's sports section my only thought was a great big, "So what?"

Article said he lowered his head while hitting a guy. Sounds like he caused his own injury out of either stupidity or incompetence. Where is the news coverage of paralyzed regular folks who are trying to recover from car accidents or other injuries or illnesses?

No, I don't wish anything bad for this football player I've never heard of before this morning. But neither do I care about his condition any more than - say - someone starving in Darfur. Probably less.

[meek]

That is good news.

This is why I think pro football players are NOT overpaid.

Any play can cost you your life.
.

[Ike Witt]

Hey, Dinsdale. Congratulations on one of the finest examples of threadshitting I have ever seen.

[Wallenstein]

You know, the more I watch football, the more I'm convinced that it either needs to be outlawed or have severe restrictions on how big a player can get.

Yeah, this was a freak injury, and I'm hoping that his prognosis is accurate, but there are too many giant people running incredibly fast out there.
A similar problem is starting to occur in rugby - you have 18-19st blokes thumping into each other at full tilt.

You can scale up muscle mass, but it doesn't work for tendons, ligaments, bones etc... ouch.

[storyteller0910]

Not sure how much the fact that I couldn't give a shit about football plays into my reaction, but when I skimmed a blurb about this in today's sports section my only thought was a great big, "So what?"

Article said he lowered his head while hitting a guy. Sounds like he caused his own injury out of either stupidity or incompetence. Where is the news coverage of paralyzed regular folks who are trying to recover from car accidents or other injuries or illnesses?

No, I don't wish anything bad for this football player I've never heard of before this morning. But neither do I care about his condition any more than - say - someone starving in Darfur. Probably less.

I'll bet people love you at parties.

[The Scrivener]

According to this article (http://sports.aol.com/story/ar/_a/everett-makes-spectacular-progress/20070909200209990001), the U. of Miami's Medical School's Project to Cure Paralysis was involved in this from the beginning of Kevin Everett's treatment. Within minutes of the accident, doctors on the scene were consulting with Dr. Barth Green, the head of the U. of Miami's Dept. of Neurological Surgery and were administering ice-cold saline to Everett, to minimize swelling and further damage to his spinal cord:

"Green said the key was the quick action taken by Cappuccino to run an ice-cold saline solution through Everett's system that put the player in a hypothermic state. Doctors at the Miami Project have demonstrated in their laboratories that such action significantly decreases the damage to the spinal cord due to swelling and movement.

"We've been doing a protocol on humans and having similar experiences for many months now," Green said. "But this is the first time I'm aware of that the doctor was with the patient when he was injured and the hypothermia was started within minutes of the injury. We know the earlier it's started, the better."


The Miami connection runs even deeper than this; Everett played football for two seasons at the U. of Miami, and Bills owner Ralph Wilson has been one of the largest individual contributors to the Project to Cure Paralysis.

[Sailboat]

Fezzik: "You just shook your head... doesn't that make you happy?"
Westley: "My brains, his steel, and your strength against sixty men, and you think a little head jiggle is supposed to make me happy?"

In this case, yes. :) He's been mostly dead all week.

Sailboat

[FriarTed]

I'm glad to see this. Now for the weird confession-

I first read the title as "Kenny Everett", to which I thought "But he's been dead for years!"

[jali]

Not sure how much the fact that I couldn't give a shit about football plays into my reaction, but when I skimmed a blurb about this in today's sports section my only thought was a great big, "So what?"

Article said he lowered his head while hitting a guy. Sounds like he caused his own injury out of either stupidity or incompetence. Where is the news coverage of paralyzed regular folks who are trying to recover from car accidents or other injuries or illnesses?

No, I don't wish anything bad for this football player I've never heard of before this morning. But neither do I care about his condition any more than - say - someone starving in Darfur. Probably less.

Then why open the thread?

Did you feel the same way about Christopher Reeves? Was it stupidity or incompetence that lead to his paralysis?

The teenager who wrapped his car around a tree because he was speeding. Was it stupidity or incompetence that lead to his paralysis?


I hope you find a heart someday.

[TroubleAgain]

Wow, Scrivener, that's fascinating. Thanks for posting it. this *is* very good news. I hope the prognosis continues to be positive.

[garygnu]

...Article said he lowered his head while hitting a guy. Sounds like he caused his own injury out of either stupidity or incompetence...
Actually, he didn't really lower his head all that much. In the video from a rear angle, his head dips out of view behind the other player just at the last second. It looked to me like he was a few inches too far away when he started his tackle, so his whole body was lower than expected upon impact, not just the head.

Oh, and you don't have to care, but you don't have to be a callous jerk about it.

[stolichnaya]

The hypothermia thing is mindblowing.

[Philster]

Wow. Wow on the hypothermia thing. So he got treated at the field, not the hospital?

[Ike Witt]

Wow. Wow on the hypothermia thing. So he got treated at the field, not the hospital?
It makes me wonder, is chilled saline on hand at every NFL game?

[asterion]

I saw the hit and the injury live on TV and I say that it was one of those hits that doesn't look that bad on film until the guy can't get up. But I knew it had to be bad once I saw that they didn't dare take his helmet off (you see helmets off in leg injuries, for instance). And then they drove the ambulance onto the field and I thought "Holy shit I hope he's not paralyzed or dead."

Here's hoping Everett can not only walk but play again. He's one of those practically nameless 1700 NFL players that, unfortunately, you never hear about unless you're watching the game and he's in a play or something like this happens.

[Rilchiam]

I'm glad to see this. Now for the weird confession-

I first read the title as "Kenny Everett", to which I thought "But he's been dead for years!"

I hadn't heard of Kevin Everett until this happened, and that was how I heard his name, too. "Does he know he shares his name with-- Oh."

[DudleyGarrett]

Best news I've heard in a while.

[Sarahfeena]

The hypothermia thing is mindblowing. Isn't it? I am so fascinated by that.

[Mr. Goob]

Wow. Wow on the hypothermia thing. So he got treated at the field, not the hospital?

I'm a Bills season ticket holder, this has been all over the news and in the paper the last three days. They started the treatment in the ambulance and he was at the hospital within 15 minutes. He was alert and talking until they put him under for surgery. Todays (as of this mornings paper) news is that they are starting to warm him up and slowly bring him out of the drug induced coma. That's when they saw signs of response to stimuli on his arms and legs.

They are crediting immediate treatment along with him being a 25 year old athelete in great shape for the good news that he might recover.

[Lady Venom]

I'm not in to football all that much, but when my husband told me about the injury and showed me the video, I cried. I hate seeing athletes hurt. It reminds me that these guys (and girls) put their lives on the line for our entertainment.

[Miller]

Not sure how much the fact that I couldn't give a shit about football plays into my reaction, but when I skimmed a blurb about this in today's sports section my only thought was a great big, "So what?"

I don't give a shit about football, either, but that doesn't stop me from mustering enough human empathy to be glad a guy's not going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, or worse.

[Finagle]

It makes me wonder, is chilled saline on hand at every NFL game?


Well, Gatorade is. Isn't it pretty much the same thing?

[rocking chair]

as the scrivener said up thread, hypothermia is very important when dealing with spines and brains. there is not much room for anything to swell. something for all of us to remember, you never know....

the very quick response to the injury really saved the quality of mr everett's life. the injury site was very high up. the doctors mentioned that there was no damage to the cord. very, very important. if swelling had occured the break would have done quite a bit of damage to the cord.

the people who are on hand, to treat on field injuries are very well trained and up on the latest treatment. for them to have chilled saline on hand is not surprizing, or to have the number for spinal cord experts, no doubt on speed dial. kudos to the team that got him stabilized, started treatment, and got him to hospital.

i am very happy to hear that this fellow will have a possibly good yet long recovery.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Well, it's still early, and a lot could happen. But I would point to the case of Reggie Brown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Brown_(linebacker)) a decade ago. He suffered a paralyzing neck injury on the field, but quick-thinking people saved his life, and although his career ended, he made pretty much a complete recovery.